SEA Games football: tricky and heavy on 1st matchday of group B

Vietnam coach Falko Goetz (L) shakes hands with the Philippines’ Michael Weiss at the pre-match press conference in Jakarta on Nov. 2, 2011

But whatever the misgivings, if there is anything which is certain, all bets are off for the opener as the gloves come off for the first three points in men’s football of the Southeast Asia Games 2011.

Goetz has not fallen into the trap of underestimating any of his opponents in Group B, least of all the Philippines who are fortified with a handful of foreign-based players.

“It is a tricky match,” said the German at the pre-match press conference. “First match of any competition is always tricky and we must take it with the right approach as this will set the tone for the rest of the competition.

“The Philippines have several players who are based abroad and that will make the tie even trickier.”

Weiss on the other hand said that matches against Vietnam are always difficult and one which they need to minimize on the mistakes.

He said that while the senior side had the previous experience of having beaten Vietnam in Hanoi before (in a group match of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010); still that was a different time and different proposition.

“Vietnam’s game is all about speed and for us we have to be cautious in committing our game,” added Weiss.

“It will be a tough opening match but there’s no reason why we should not win the three points if we approach the game in the right way.”

The match between Vietnam and the Philippines will kick off at 4pm (local time) at the Stadium Utama Gelora Bung Karno and will be shown live on RCTI.

In the meantime, Laos, the 2009 semi-finalists, will be hoping that they can put their campaign in the right foot when they take on Myanmar in the second match of the day. The kick-off is at 1900 at the same venue.

“We are taking it one game at a time and now the concentration is on Myanmar,” said Alfred Riedl, the chief coach of Laos.

“Of course, we would like to emulate the achievement of the last edition but to do that, we have to be practical and just concentrate on what is in front of us.”
Stefan Hansson, from Myanmar on the other hand said that the team is as ready as they can possibly be.

“We have had some tough matches in the run-up to the SEA Games and I think that we have ironed out several of the issues,” added Hansson.

“If we can pick up the first three points in our campaign, I will be very satisfied.”